ELL Information Center

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ELL Information Center

The U.S. population has changed dramatically in the past three decades, as nearly 30 million immigrants, both authorized and unauthorized, have settled here seeking a better future for themselves and their children. Much attention has focused on proposed and actual change to immigration laws at the national and state levels.

A less studied, but perhaps vastly more important area of interest, is the effect immigration has on U.S. classrooms—where society’s response will determine the skills of the future U.S. workforce and the nation’s ability to remain competitive in a global economy.

Click on the map to access the interactive data tool.

For that reason, MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy has created the English Language Learner (ELL) Information Center, to provide informative fact sheets, maps, and state-level data resources that chronicle the demography and trends of immigrant families and their children.

MPI experts, along with representatives from Gwinnett County Public Schools and the University of Georgia's Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education, discuss the educational experiences of Georgia’s first- and second-generation immigrant youth and where Georgia’s ambitious education reforms have met—or failed to meet—the needs of this growing population.

Recent Activity

This report examines the experiences and outcomes of immigrant youth across California’s educational institutions. Tracing the effects of education budget cuts that hit this population particularly hard, the report offers recommendations as new funding priorities and education reforms are being implemented. With one-fourth of all immigrants and one-third of English Language Learner students in the U.S., California's performance holds national implications.

MPI experts, along with representatives from Gwinnett County Public Schools and the University of Georgia's Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education, discuss the educational experiences of Georgia’s first- and second-generation immigrant youth and where Georgia’s ambitious education reforms have met—or failed to meet—the needs of this growing population.

This report examines the high school completion, college access, and postsecondary success of immigrant youth (ages 16 to 26) in Washington State, where one in four young adults is an immigrant or child of an immigrant. The report provides one of the first cross-system analyses of the educational experiences of first-generation (foreign-born) and second-generation (U.S.-born with immigrant parents) youth in the state.

Texas has the second-largest number of English Language Learner (ELL) students in the nation. Using a unique longitudinal data set that tracks ELL and non-ELL students in Texas from first grade through high school, this report examines the trajectories and performance of individual groups.

Over 5.3 million U.S. students during the 2007-08 academic year were enrolled in English Language Learner (ELL) programs. This fact sheet examines the states and districts with the highest number and share of ELL students and offers a detailed breakdown of key statistics.

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ELLs in Context

In the first video, we discuss the distribution of ELLs across the country, their growth in enrollment, and more. In the second video, we examine key indicators of ELL students' performance on standardized tests, among other topics.

About the Project

The English Language Learner (ELL) Information Center examines the demography and trends of immigrant families and their children who are English Language Learners. The share of ELL students in K-12 schools in the United States increased by more than 50 percent between 1997-98 and 2007-08. While most states experienced growth in ELL enrollments, some states’ ELL enrollments decreased. The fact sheets, maps, and other resources offered here trace ELLs' growth, how they are faring in schools, and the policies that are directed at this population.